Santa Clara won’t bite at Seattle station’s 49ers dig

Now that Santa Clara is on the national stage courtesy of its new 49ers stadium, it’s starting to get a few punches thrown its way.

A Seattle sports radio station this week ratified a “proclamation” decreeing that it will only refer to the Niners from now on as the “Santa Clara 49ers” because of the team’s move this year to Levi’s Stadium. The station said it was “a show of sympathy to a city entrusted to endure the mockery of a new stadium named after a pair of jeans,” but of course it was also the latest jab in the heated Seahawks-49ers rivalry.

Sports Radio 950 KJR also posted a revised version of the team’s famous “SF” logo, changing it to “SC” with a Santa Claus hat on top. The Clear Channel station asked listeners to report any “violations” of the policy when they hear any references to “San Francisco 49ers” on its airwaves.

The Santa Clara 49ers’ logo, as submitted by Seattle’s 950 KJR

Most commenters on the station’s Facebook page called it juvenile, and noted it’s fairly common for NFL teams – like the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins and New York Giants and Jets – to play in cities that don’t exactly reflect the team’s name. But what do you expect from a station that features sections on its website called “babes of the day,” the “babe page” and “babes we heart?”

It’s also what the kids these days refer to as trolling – making an outlandish statement online in hopes that your target will respond, so you can spin the ordeal into a publicity-generating controversy.

The city of Santa Clara, for it part, isn’t biting – a city spokesman declined to comment. And why would the humble Mini-City-by-the-Bay even bother? Right now in Santa Clara – or just about any time you’re reading this – you can sit out in the sunshine and 70-degree weather. In Seattle, chances are you’ll need that Santa hat just to keep your head dry.